


The Pursuit of Happiness

by Jena Bartley (jenab)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 17:05:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4229880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenab/pseuds/Jena%20Bartley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver and Felicity on their road trip, learning more about each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pursuit of Happiness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Caiti (Caitriona_3)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/gifts).



> Set after the season three finale

The car is black, sporty without being too flashy. Its comfortable seats were perfect for a long drive.

More important was the way Felicity had lit up when they’d picked it out together. Her smile had been beaming, a hint of disbelief in her eyes that they were actually doing this. Oliver couldn’t help smiling back at her, filled with warmth at seeing how happy she looked, how that wide smile was free of the shadows that had hung over her for the past year.

Felicity let her hair down out of its customary ponytail, pulling back several strands to keep them out of her face. Oliver left the GPS off and the maps in the glove compartment. He only wanted to feel the sun on his face, so he headed west toward the winding coastal highways of California.

They left Starling City behind in the more than capable hand of its heroes and protectors. With each mile, Oliver could feel tension slowly seeping from him he hadn’t even been aware he was carrying.

The view was breathtaking. Sunlight shimmering across the vivid blue of the ocean waters. Sea birds called to each other, as they flew over the ocean. The sun kissed their skin, bringing out freckles on Felicity’s body. Oliver took great pleasure in mapping out each new one at night, learning the shape and taste of it. Oliver couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such happiness or this level of contentment.

Maybe when he was younger, unaware of what it meant to be a Queen and the pressures and duties that went along with that role.

Before he realized what was expected of him.

He’d spent his teens and early twenties rebelling against being Robert and Moira’s son, taking full advantage of his youthful good looks, and the kind of power and influence money brought him, to get into and out of trouble. Happiness was found in the bottom of a bottle, a pretty girl, or the high of an adrenaline rush. There had been brief moments when it was just him, Tommy and Laurel but it never lasted long enough to reach deep inside him

Then came Lian Yu and the following five years of hell and the slow fall into becoming a killer, becoming someone who had hardened his heart against feeling anything for anyone in order to inflict both pain and death on them. That changed a person. In his first year as the Hood he had been a killer until Felicity and John had come into his life, forcing him to reexamine who and what he wanted to be.

Over the past three years he had been relearning who he was and to set aside the killer for something more. To be a symbol that could inspire others.

It had been a hard path he had undertaken.

Now he was on another journey, one he’d started on when Felicity had put his feet on the path. He was learning to live and love, instead of sacrificing himself to save those he loved. Letting that be his motivation in the fight with Ra’s al Gul.

Oliver was slowly coming to know this new version of himself, someone who fought to live, not just for himself but for both his family and friends and his city. He had this gorgeous woman, full of fire, who loved him, had even faced down one of the most dangerous assassins in the world in order to save him.

Felicity awed him with her endless capacity to not only love him and forgive him but also to stand up to him, calling him out on his actions when she believed he was in the wrong. She made him a better man. It wasn’t always sunshine and joy on their trip, though. Oliver had too many demons to face and Felicity had her own battles. There were days when he found himself retreating, brooding on the past and the mistakes he’d made.

On those days he would fall back into old patterns, cutting himself off from Felicity, unable to open up to what was driving him. It ticked Felicity off, leading to them fighting, at times to both of them spending the day away from each other.

The hurt mixed with disappointment in her eyes was what had Oliver struggling to overcome his tendency to retreat. But the reward was worth it as he reached out to her more and more, finding Felicity there waiting for him with patience and love.

During the nights, Oliver spent hours mapping out the hidden curves of Felicity’s body, her skin soft under his questing fingers and mouth. Felicity did the same, pressing soft kisses to his scars, questions she never voiced about where and how he got them. Oliver slowly found the words to tell her the stories behind each of them, anchoring himself in the way Felicity held him when the memories proved too much.

Sometimes he found himself still closing down, pulling away from her when it got too bad.

Felicity, in turn, learned to give him the space he needed, trusting him to come back to her when he could.

As much as Oliver started to open up more and more to Felicity, letting her slip deeper inside his heart, Oliver came to know more about her as well. He learned about her childhood as a girl too smart and the daughter of a waitress who used her looks to get men to help her out. Oliver held her as she talked about her father walking out on them and how her mom struggled to understand her brilliant daughter.

He also learned that while Felicity had forgiven him for his shutting her and John out while he worked with Malcolm Merlyn in on his plan to defeat Ra’s al Gul, she hadn’t forgotten. That was a hurt that went deep.

Only time and Oliver not shutting her out again would ease that hurt.

At night, Oliver found out Felicity had nightmares from time to time. Ones from which she sometimes woke up screaming. What she had gone through to help him and to protect the city had left its mark on her. Oliver hated that this brilliant, vibrant woman was haunted by the darkness she`d seen. That it haunted her sleep at night.

The worst ones were where she`d whimper in her sleep, curling up protectively. All Oliver could do was hold her when she had those. He`d wrap her up in his arms, wordlessly murmuring to her as she trembled.

He hated that by bringing her into his life he`d caused her to have such nightmares. When he`d voiced that to her, Felicity had glared at him, telling him that she didn’t regret her choice to join him in his fight.

As much as this was a road trip away from Starling City and being the Arrow, it was also a journey to get to know each other better.


End file.
